Rosacea Recommend Foods

Lisa Borg Dip DCNH, Nutritional Therapist – Lisa is a qualified Nutritional Therapist. She has been practicing nutrition for 8 years across a broad spectrum of health conditions. She has a special interest in Rosacea, and her research, together with hands-on experience, led to the writing of her thesis entitled “The Nutritional Management of Rosacea”.)

Rosacea Recommend Foods

Rosacea Recommend Foods

This week I want to talk about a very important group of nutrients called antioxidants and their counterparts Free Radicals.

You may or may not have heard the term ‘free radicals’, but do you know what they are? The body is a chemical, electrically charged machine and chemical reactions are taking place constantly. Free Radicals are those atoms that have become unstable due to either a natural biological/chemical process within the body, or is introduced from outside the body such as from radiation, tobacco smoke, pollution, or toxins like heavy metals, pesticides, herbicides and/or fertilizers in non-organic foods).

Free radicals are commonly short-lived, unstable atoms that can damage cells, proteins and even DNA, thereby altering their chemical and cellular structure and subsequently affecting their function; they often cause a chain reaction during this short lifespan.

Foods exposed to air become ‘oxidised’ meaning they are changed by the effects of losing or combining with oxygen molecules. To help you understand this concept, burning food or even having a sunburn, causes rapid oxidation, while slow oxidation would be the rusting of a metal.

Either one damages the original substance and changes it’s structure. Ageing of organs and especially the skin is a result of free radical damage. Antioxidants quench Free Radicals, by adding an atom or removing an atom which then makes the free radical stable again. Antioxidants also inhibit oxidation happening in the first place.

Normal metabolism and energy production result in the formation of Free Radicals and circulating Antioxidants help minimise any damage. Two other key Free Radical producers are exercise, especially that which produces profuse sweating, and inflammation within the body. The latter is most significant for anyone suffering Rosacea because it is an inflammatory condition. This makes antioxidant nutrients vital to the diet of anyone with Rosacea, or any other inflammatory condition for that matter!

There are different kinds of antioxidants and your body produces antioxidant enzymes too, given the availability of specific nutrients. I will not go into the various types of antioxidants today, but recommend a wide variety of healthy foods in the diet to provide all nutrients necessary to combat all types of Free Radicals. Some examples of antioxidants are Vitamins A, C and E, carotenes, polyphenols, CoQ10, and antioxidant enzymes require a sufficient supply of minerals such as copper, iron, zinc manganese, and zinc.

As a note for your attention, the absorption of nutrients, especially minerals, is heavily reliant on digestive wellness; without an efficiently functioning digestive system one cannot absorb the levels of nutrients required to maintain health and prevent free radical damage. It always comes back to the digestive system in those with Rosacea!

The foods that provide a high antioxidant content are mainly organic fruits, especially berries and grapes, and brightly coloured vegetables. Organic or wild Alaskan red Salmon also provides a potent antioxidant carotene called Astaxanthin. Nuts, seeds, herbs and spices also supply antioxidant nutrients. You should include all these foods in the diet and variety ensures supply of different types of antioxidants.Drinking Organic Green Tea and including freshly prepared smoothies and juices are a good way of taking in large amounts of antioxidants in one meal. I highly recommend the Rosacea sufferer to include these in their diet to support their antioxidant potential.

Here are some of my Rosacea-recommended foods & Recipess

Snack-box for elevenses at work:

I cup Pecans

I Cup Almonds

1 cup Brazil nuts

1 cup Walnuts

1 cup dried apricots

1⁄2 cup raisins

1⁄2 cup unsweetened cocoa nibs sprinkling of sea salt

sprinkling of ground cinnamon

Toss all ingredients in a ceramic or glass container with a lid (to avoid hormone disrupting plastics). This box should last the whole week!

(ginger can be a flushing trigger, so only use if you are sure it is not a trigger for you).

Run all ingredients through a juicer.

Process all ingredients through the juicer and drink promptly.

This Week’s Quote:

“People are so worried about what they eat between Christmas and the New Year, but they really should be worried about what they eat between the New Year and Christmas.” – Author Unknown

Contact Us:

If you would like to book a Rosacea Nutritional Consultation or to book a free Rosacea Treatment Consultation, please ring 0207 523 5158 or e-mail info@pulselightclinic.co.uk. We are open Monday – Saturday, 10 am – 6 pm

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